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Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#261

Post by tarsinge »

taneq wrote: post #136
xouse wrote: post #121

People think touch typing takes a long time to learn, and getting good does take a while, but it only takes about an hour to memorize the alphanumerics and which finger types what well enough to break the hunt and peck looking at the keyboard cycle forever. Once the cycle is broken just typing casually is enough to eventually achieve mastery. It's only that one or two hours that really suck, and then that week or so…

If you use a computer in any way in the course of your job or daily life, touch typing is the single biggest improvement in productivity and quality of life that you can make. It is SO much faster and easier than hunt and peck.

Second this.

Also more specific but if you are french the keyboard layout is not great for programming (because []{}';. are not straightforward). I’m more happy since I switched to QWERTY layout for programming. Since I touch type I can easily switch depending on the task.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#262

Post by emerongi »

RobertRoberts wrote: post #212
Pandabob wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second this as a worthy skill to have, but there aren't many dishes you can become really good at making just in an hour. At least anecdotally, just the process of learning to make a great french omelette is pretty brutal.

Watch this, incredibly simple method that made me actually like omelettes. (I hated them growing up) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s10etP1p2bU "Really good" is subjective. It's the very notion something is possible and that you can do it that I see as valuable. Practice makes perfect, nothing can be perfect the first time you learn it.

As a side-note: you should not use metal utensils with non-stick (teflon) pans.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#265

Post by choward »

dokem wrote: post #65
peteforde wrote: post #8

There's a growing realization that you can completely side-step the need for Single-Page App frameworks like React using websockets and the morphdom library. Projects like StimulusReflex (Rails) and LiveView (Phoenix) allow developers to build complex, reactive modern apps faster and easier by rejecting the need to even have client state. https://github.com/hopsoft/stimulus_reflex https://github.com/phoenixframework/…

I made similar functionality for Django a few years ago called Sniper. You write all your dom modification code as an Ajax request handler. In his handler you yield out a sequence of dom modification objects and sniper handles the rest. I couldn’t understand why this wasn’t a more popular approach.

Do you still use it?

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#266

Post by mattchamb »

greggman2 wrote: post #257
Grue3 wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, "hanaseimasen" is not a correct negative of "hanasu", it should be "hanashimasen". Also an easy way to say you don't understand anything is "wakaranai".

they weren't wrong. hanasemasen = can't speak hanashimasen = don't speak It's arguably more proper to say "nihongo ga hanasemasen" (I can't speak Japanese) than "nihongo wo hanashimasen" (I don't speak Japanese). The first is a statement of my personal abilities. The second could easily be a statement of my attitude. "nihongo ga hanasemasu kedo nihongo o hanshimasen" (I can speak Japanese but I don't speak Japanese)…

I read it as something like はなせいません which doesn't match 話せません or 話しません

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#267

Post by galfarragem »

unlinked_dll wrote: post #28

How to properly wrap cables. A/V and cable techs are super anal about this and it takes just a few minutes to learn, it will change your life. Cables should never be coiled in the same direction. It creates kinks when unwound and make it extremely likely for knots to form (ever leave your headphones in your pocket?). If a cable isn't being installed permanently it should be "wrapped" using a technique called "over-un…

I learnt this while working in trades. Working with trades people or handymans will teach you a lot of practical skills that are useful in daily life.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#268

Post by clarry »

mekoka wrote: post #155

Some years ago, I learned how to tie my shoes from this video https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes . I believe those 3 minutes were among the best time investments I've ever made.

One alternative is to eliminate the problem entirely and get shoes without laces.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#269

Post by unglaublich »

tempestn wrote: post #144

How, and why, to invest in a simple portfolio of index funds. Split between equity and fixed income based on your risk tolerance, and diversify equities globally. This will give you a low-cost, set-and-forget investment portfolio that you can add to over time without ever having to worry about what you should buy or what the market might do. Just add to it regularly over time, and end up with solid retirement savings…

Switzerland makes it very interesting to follow your advice: you can deposit into a 'third pillar bank-account' which your local bank helps you invest in predetermined portfolios, and the investment will be tax-deductible.

Re: Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?

#270

Post by tarsinge »

SQL is a good fit for one hour I think.

Not « valuable » for work but interesting for stimulating other parts of your brain, which can have interesting side effects:

- juggling (3 balls). Great for arms and hand coordination and trusting your left hand.

- drumming (common patterns). Good gateway to music production.

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